Softball's Enea Named 2010 Softball Candidate for Lowe's Senior CLASS Award
Thursday, February 11, 2010 | Softball
University of Florida senior Francesca Enea (Woodland Hills, Calif.) was named one of 30 candidates for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for softball.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Enea has excelled both on and off the field. a Youth, Family and Community Science major, she is a three-time Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll student. On the field, Enea has helped power the Gators to two Women's College World Series appearances, two SEC regular-season and tournament titles and an NCAA-record 70 wins in 2008. She is Florida all-time leader in single-season and career home runs, RBIs, sacrifice flies and tied for the single-season slugging percentage record.
Throughout her time in Gainesville, Enea has donated her time and energy off the field where she is needed. As a junior, she created and organized the Swing for Cancer event, which gave fans a chance to watch Florida student-athletes and coaches try to hit against Florida's All-American pitchers while raising money for cancer initiatives. She was also the co-chair of the Climb for Cancer Sport Camps, an event in which children diagnosed with cancer come to UF for the day to play with current and former Gators. In 2009, she research and implemented a plan to “adopt” a 13-year-old girl with a brain tumor through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. She took it upon herself to plan the ceremony, which took place before a fall game, and continues to find new ways to raise money and awareness for the cause.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of classroom, character, community and competition. The winner will be announced at the NCAA Women's College World Series in June.
Former Gator Stacey Nelson was Florida's first-ever Lowe's Senior CLASS Award winner in 2009. Baseball's Brandon MacArthur also won the award last year.
